Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

8 reviews

pandact's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

   This book nailed my feelings with scientific precision, and Gyasi simultaneously leaves room for different kinds of faith. This reflective fine-tuning happened to be exactly what I was looking for, plus the slightly lonely and queer first-generation bildungsroman. I'd read a whole book where they dive into ethical and religious questions!

   I hope it's also impactful for others who read it, and it shares similar themes with Freshwater, Liturgists, Semler, and the X-files.

   Spoilers in tags

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse and Animal cruelty

Also I thought the ending made sense, almost like when a documentary flashes forward before the credits. The mother still wrapped up the emotional arc better than I expected from getting it spoiled in reviews!

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

A beautiful and painful book that demands the reader's full attention. Gyasi doesn't lay things out A then B then C; instead, she gives us a puzzle of C then A then Q and trusts that we as readers are clever enough and paying enough attention to put the pieces together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Child death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Ableism, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Bullying, Body shaming, Sexism, Violence, Child abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Medical content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

dannythestreet's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Racial slurs

heisiiri's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is a sad, sad book, but there is some hope offered too. The themes of drug abuse, complicated family dynamics, racism, and questioning and struggling with your own religious beliefs are very interesting and thought-provoking, but certainly not light reading. The tone is reflective, the pacing is slow and the story is told in a non-linear way, so this is not gonna be for everyone. But for the people who like this sort of thing, I think Transcendent Kingdom is an excellent read, with brilliant writing and fascinating characters, who you get to know and care about deeply!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Racism, Child abuse, and Mental illness

plantybooklover's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

   I listened to this as an audio book, and I am glad I did. the narrator for the audio book did a FANTASTIC job. I was sort of amused at first thinking "wow she did all the voices" just like when I was smaller and someone was doing story time, but the narrator really DID do all the voices without being condescending or strange, she did them all and really added to the telling of the story. It was more like a performance, than just an audio book narration. 
I initially did not want to read this because I enjoyed Homegoing and I could tell this would be different, but I like having a audiobook going when I'm at the gym, and my library is limited, so this was it. I really did not want to read another tragic tale of drug abuse and death, but in the end, I did. Mostly actually because I forgot the blurb and by the time we got to the drug use, it was mid story. 
Overall I enjoyed the book, there were some slower sections that I wished had moved along faster- but I solved that by speeding up the narration!!  I thought it was a very good book for book clubs or classrooms because it opens up a lot for discussion. I was surprised and delighted by the ending, which to me seemed like a happy one, which is not at all what I was expecting mid novel. 
I think this is a great jumping off point for discussion of women in STEM, people of color in academia, rascism in America and drug use/abuse crisis. 
Not one of my favorite reads of the year-because it was a little just depressing at moments, but giving it 5 starts because it's well written and tells an important story that added to my understanding of the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, Cursing, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Dysphoria, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Blood, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

allisoncc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Physical abuse, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content

frenchtoast_n_books's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm somewhat conflicted in my feelings of this book and I can't place why. 

I think I'm struggling with a disconnect between Gifty as a child and Gifty as an adult. Maybe the story seemed to be more telling than showing. Maybe I didn't get the end as it didn't seem to conclude or complete anything. I don't know why but I somehow just didn't connect or understand this story as a whole like I thought I would. 

I think this book requires more contemplation on my part to figure out my overall thoughts about it. 

I'll use this review template to see if I can sort it out: 

Content Warnings: racism, racial slurs, drug use and addiction, drug overdose, suicide, depression, religious trauma, child abuse, divorce/parent separation (probably more that I can't think of) 

Main Theme: I'm not sure on this. We have: Gifty's childhood detailing her journey and struggles with religion that caries into her adult life, Nana's (Gifty's brother) drug use that lead to his death, Gifty's mother coming to stay with her as she needs help dealing with a major depressive episode that leaves her bed ridden, and Gifty's adult life and research with mice mapping neural pathways for addiction and how reducing their addiction seeking behavior. As you can see there is a lot going on and parsing the major theme is difficult for me. 

I guess the major theme is the multifaceted lives we live that shape who we become and  how we interact with others. 

Plot/Plot Pacing: The pacing was consistent and the plot was consistent through each space in time we inhabit of Gifty's life. However, the reader jumps around in time without rime or reason throughout her life. It comes without warning and maybe that stilts the book for me and why I have the disconnect I do for the story and the characters. 

Writing Style/Audio Quality: The writing was overall excellent, though at times when we are in Gifty's childhood the author includes large or advanced words that I didn't think a girl from 4-11 would know. It made me think that when we were in Gifty's childhood it was being narrated or told via the lens of the older, neuroscientist Gifty even though there was no indication of that being the case in the writing itself. 

The audiobook is amazing and has one of my favorite narrators: Bahni Turpin. 

Character Development: The overall arc of young Gifty makes a whole lot of sense, but I'm not sure there was one for adult Gifty. I can't place adult Gifty's "a-ha" moment and her story just ends. Then there is an epilogue of sorts that discuss her life years after her current research has ended. A "where is she now" if you will. I'm not sure this worked for me in the story because I wanted more. I crave reading the space from the end of the story to the epilogue, so the end of the book leaves me a little deflated. 

Diversity: Gifty's mother is an immigrant that left Ghana for the US. She settled in Alabama where she had Gifty. Gifty left Alabama for Harvard and Stanford, and spent a summer in Ghana when she was a child. It has each location represented in the story and discusses being Black and an immigrant in America. It also details the difference between a Black immigrant US citizen and a Black generational US citizen. There is also bisexuality and disordered mental health representation in the story. 

Impression on Character Relationships: This is potentially the strongest aspect of the story for me because Gifty details and examines her relationships throughout the story: family, friends, and romantic relationships. She even examines the relationships she perceives between those she knows, mostly family members. I really enjoyed examining how relationships evolved in this story based on events that happen in their lives. 

I don't know if any of this has helped me sort out my thoughts but it definitely allows me starting points to dive further in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Abortion